The invention relates to the storage of items of baggage in aircraft. In particular, the invention relates to a storage module for a region in an aircraft; to an accommodation space for an aircraft with a storage module; to an aircraft comprising a storage module; to the use of a storage module in an aircraft; and to a method for storing an item of baggage in an aircraft.
At present, crew accommodation and crew rest compartments, in the following denoted as crew rest compartments (CRCs), are installed in various positions in an aircraft. For example, crew rest compartments are installed on the main deck or above the passenger cabin (so-called overhead crew rest compartments, OHCRCs) or below the main deck (for example bulk crew rest compartments, BCRCs).
At present, overhead crew rest compartments are designed in the form that installation of a chain of hatrack units that are located underneath the crew rest compartment may be possible. In this way almost the entire hatrack storage space may be available to passengers. In contrast to this, the storage facilities for the crew in the crew rest compartment may be limited and thus space inside the CRC may be limited also.
In present-day aircraft, crew rest compartments with specified sizes for storage units that are arranged at defined positions within the crew rest compartment are often installed in aircraft. Often, due to the limited available design space in the crew rest compartment, items of baggage are not stored in the storage regions but instead outside the crew rest compartment, for example in baggage storage compartments, so-called hatracks.
Such storage units may take up a lot of space in the crew rest compartment. In this arrangement a particular volume of storage space may be mandatory. If more storage space volume is required, in some crew rest compartments it even becomes necessary to remove a bed.
US 2008/078870 A shows hatracks that are attached to the load-bearing structure (e.g. the primary structure) of the aircraft. WO 08022688 A also shows hatracks that are attached to the supporting structure of the aircraft. In both these arrangements the hatracks take up a relatively large amount of space.
DE 10 2007 009 278.6 shows a crew rest compartment with a storage unit that is mounted in the interior of the module.